Monday, March 28, 2011

Nothing says "I Love You" like accusing your Father of Rape.

A WOMAN with a history of making false allegations of sexual abuse, who told police that her father had raped her, has been jailed.
The lying accusation nearly ruined the business career of father Phillip Marrill, Guildford Crown Court heard on Monday (February 28).

His daughter Emma, 21, from Camberley, persisted with the false allegations claiming that her father had sexually abused her from the age of 15.

It was only after six months that Emma confessed she had fabricated the allegation.

Judge Neil Stewart told her: "You have done this both previously and subsequently."

Miss Marrill, of Horshoe Crescent, Camberley, was jailed for 12 months after admitting doing an act intended to pervert the course of justice.

The judge said the sentence would have been longer but for her early plea of guilty.

Prosecutor Wendy Cottee told the court that the defendant contacted Surrey Police on June 17 2009.

"She said she had been raped by her father the previous evening at his home address," she said.

"The following day her father was arrested at his home in Staines by police and detained for interview."

The court was told that Phillip Marrill was seized at 1.30am and spend 22 hours in custody.

'Uncooperative'

Ms Cottee said that he was forced to provide intimate body samples, hand over his clothes and his home was searched.

"His wife provided an alibi for her husband saying that he had been with her at the time that the alleged rape was supposed to have taken place." she said.

But the court heard that Emma persisted with the allegations.

Ms Cottee told the court: "She said it was not the first time she had been raped.

"She said there had been several incidents since the age of 15."

The court was told that Emma claimed that she had received a phone call from her family saying that her neice and nephew would be taken into care unless she dropped the allegations against her father.

But, said Ms Cottee, police analysis of the defendant's phone records showed that the only call she had received at that time had been from her boyfriend.

Ms Cottee said that Emma became increasingly unco-operative with the police until finally on January 5 last year she told officers that she wanted to withdraw the allegations.

"She said that the rape had never happened. She was intervewed under caution and she confessed that the allegations against her father had been untrue."

Ms Cottee said that Emma confided the allegation to her boyfriend.

"She was expecting her boyfriend to have a go at her father," she said.

"Her boyfriend had called the police and she did not know how to get out of it".

The prosecutor added: "The defendant said she had not got on well with her father but she regretted that he had been arrested."

A victim impact statement from Phillip Marrill said he had found the early morning arrest and being taken away in a marked police car degrading.

Ms Cottee said "It had repercussions on his work."

She said that he was reluctant to tell his employers what had happened and had covered his absences from work due to the case by taking annual leave.

The prosecutor said that being on bail for rape had serious implications for obtaining visas to travel overseas on business.

"He was terrified of losing his job," she said.

The court was told that the false allegations also had a major impact on his domestic life.

"Social services asked his other daughter not to leave him alone with his grandchildren,"
Ms Cottee told the hearing: "This is not the first time that the defendant has made allegations of rape."

The court was told that she had told police that she had been the victim of stranger rape and while staying in a hostel she also made an allegation of sexual abuse.

'Impulsiveness'

The court heard that she had previous convictions for shoplifting and being drunk and disorderly.

Ms Cottee said that 33 police officers had been involved in the investigation and 76 hours of police time wasted. In addition, costs of more than £2000 had been run up.

David Barnes, defending, said psychiatric reports showed that his client had signs of an anti-social personality disorder.

"Such a condition is characterised by impulsiveness and outbursts of anger," he said.

Mr Barnes said: "It does not provide any form of excuse but it does provide some sort of explanation for this matter".

He said that her father had reconciled himself with the defendant and was sitting in court to support her.
"The last thing he wants is to see his daughter sent to prison," he added.

He urged the judge to pass a suspended prison sentence so that the defendant could continue to receive specialist treatment.

But Judge Stewart said the offence was far too serious for anything but an immediate custodial sentence.

"Offences of this nature undermine public confidence in true allegations of rape.", he said.

"This had a degrading effect on your father."

"Although the allegations were shown to be untrue it may well impact on other people's thinking,"

The judge said that one of the psychiatric reports suggested that the remorse shown by the defendant appeared to be "superficial".